Eildon Springs is a specialist fine-wool merino sheep stud focussed on providing lasting benefits for its clients by breeding rams with the capacity to pass on to their progeny in client flocks a range of characteristics of continuing value. Specifically, these characteristics include: large quantities of fine to superfine wool of great style and lustre, grown on good-sized, easy-care, plain-bodied sheep of sound constitution.

We see ourselves first and foremost as a woolgrower’s stud because wool production as well as quality and style are our first concerns. We recognise the need to maintain the market value of cull animals and we achieve this by maintaining the size of our sheep; Eildon Springs ewes average about 58 kgms bodyweight and we seek slowly to increase this figure and maintain the famous Stockton body length. Nevertheless, our main aim is to service the needs of committed woolgrowers who love good wool.

Our ewes cut about 5.5 kgms of greasy wool each year with an average fibre diameter of 16.9 microns. The average Standard Deviation in 2010 was less than 3, the CV about 18 and the Comfort Factor 99.9. The Toland Elite Score, a measure of softness, was 70.6. The TES range for elite wool is 60-80 with super elite wools being less than 60 so Eildon Springs wool is very soft, as well as white and lustrous, well-nourished with a clean, bold crimp.

Eildon Springs and the Stockton Stud from which it grew have both striven for years to develop easy-care animals with plain bodies. We do not mules at Eildon Springs, surgically or chemically, because we do not need to: our sheep have very few wrinkles. The Eildon Springs Flock was bred from an original purchase of 105 Stockton Ewes, using Artificial Insemination and Embryo Transfer techniques, and those ewes ranged from 8-12 years of age. Building our flock from a healthy, older mob of ewes ensured our flock inherited many genes for good health! We also select for sound temperament and good mothering ability. Our lambing percentage for 2009 of 124.5% suggests we are having some success with this aim. We also breed away from worm and fly-strike susceptibility.



We see our normal output of top quality rams as numbering about 80, although in recent drought years we reduced this output to match conditions and demand. As seasons improve, we shall increase our output a little but always within our capacity to manage the ewes on an individual basis to create the best annual drop we can each year. Helping us to achieve this aim is our involvement with the Sheep Genetics organisation who use the raw data we provide for them about our flock to produce Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs). These help us match our ewes to the best available sires to produce the best possible progeny, to identify possible elite ewes and those of lower potential. With constant attention to our ewe flock, we provide the best gene pool we can to match with the best ram genetics we can on-property and from external sires. For many years, we used only Stockton genetics but we have recently been using some carefully chosen external sires for Artificial Insemination –careful all the while not to lose the very best of our Stockton heritage.

In addition to the extensive and thoughtful use of ASBVs and other measurement data, we also value the services of our stud advisor and sheep classer, Robert Russell of Sheepscope, Ballarat, whose wise advice based on regular critical classing of the whole flock helps us interpret the available measured data.



We are always keen to show our animals to clients and prospective clients and provide what advice we can to help them achieve their breeding objectives. Please contact us whenever you like and see the Contact Page for details.

Andrew and Carol Greenwood - handing over to Steven Wheeler